Awais Farooq Roy – Dec 25, 2019
Dear Quaid,
I don’t even know where to begin to describe how far your country has come and the long way still ahead. I think today, you will see so many technological advancements that it would probably take you a few weeks to get accustomed to everything that is possible now and how easier our lives have become compared to the times when you were alive.
However, most of this technological advancement is not ours, but rather the advancement that other developed countries have made possible, we have just adopted most of that to our advantage to make things easier for us.
If you asked me in relative terms on how our country is doing, I think you might not be happy with the progress and in some ways the regress that we have made. While the developed countries think of ways to reach out to the furthermost corners of our universe and design systems and mechanisms for space exploration, our graduates are trying to make sure their parents and families are happy with their qualifications even with the depression and anxiety it brings them studying subjects against their desires. We are always thinking of creative ways to convince our youth into studying what we want them to study against their desires rather than having them follow their talents.
In terms of food, shelter, clothing, and access to similar other facilities by the citizens, we are happy if we are doing better than India. Instead of aiming to eliminate poverty, increase tolerance, protect human rights and be a leader on that front, we see our ranking in the bottom tiers of the lists and are relieved if our numbers are better than the neighboring countries struggling closer to our numbers near the bottom. We are always looking forward to the inventions that the developed world comes up with and start estimating the time it would take for those inventions to reach our country and whether we would be able to afford them.
While this country is so much more advanced now than how you left it, most of that has been possible thanks to the advancements brought forward by the developed countries.
On the same note, I think the biggest encouragement for you, myself, and our country is that it simply exists. At the time you founded this nation, the sacrifices that went behind it, and all the challenges it faced, it seemed difficult to predict how this country would survive. We have not just survived, but thrived, even if we had to use borrowed means for that advancement. If we look at it from the right angle, world advancement is human advancement in the end and we can do our fair share to return back to the world with similar new inventions and advancements from our side as we try to progress.
Today, as the world tries to look away from the tyranny of so many countries and leaders, the citizens of this country feel grateful to have such immense religious freedom. I just pray that we can provide the same for our minorities as well like you envisioned.
If you were really here today, I wonder how many people would have gotten a wake-up call to take charge of their lives and do better as individuals. I also wonder whether the greedy political system of this nation would have given you the respect and space that you deserve.
My prayers and wishes are for everyone, including myself, to just look at our own actions, and be more responsible on that front. Rather than waiting and pushing for a savior, I hope we can be our own saviors and heroes.
My monologue with Quaid
Ever since I was a child, I have dreamed of an interaction where Quaid comes back and I have to explain to him where the country stands today. While I show him all the tech advancement, my smartphone etc, I also feel ashamed in telling him how very little of that is our own. I don’t know a lot about history and the politics, maybe due to my laziness or just a preference to avoid unnecessary drama and tension. But this is my way to explaining to Quaid where we stand today.
Would love to hear what you would have said, or added to what I said?
